This is my second report card on how I’m doing at meeting my housewife challenges. (Remember I said I was going to hold myself accountable to you every other Sunday.)
I haven’t been too enthusiastic about creating challenges for myself, so there are only two so far:
- Get (and keep) the grocery bill under budget [read original post]
- Keep a clean house [read original post]
But stay tuned, because this week, I’ll be posting two more.
And now, how have I been doing?
Well, not so good. The grocery bill is ridiculously over budget, and we haven’t taken time to figure out if we need to readdress it yet. Of course, with the money I’m making from watching Mr. V, it doesn’t really matter if we’re 10 or 20 or 30 dollars over. So for now we’re letting it be, but I’m sure there will be some adjustment before we next check in.
On keeping a clean house, I get a B-. Last week was fine, but this week…well, there are clean clothes that have been living in the laundry basket for several days, I swept and mopped downstairs, but can’t remember when our bedroom was last vacuumed, and, as I type this, there is a day’s worth of dirty dishes piled in the sink (and all over the counters and on the dining room table). Not to mention the state of my desk, which is my dumping ground. Ugg.
So here’s the thing – as in, it’s time to hear excuses – I’m not exactly only a stay-at-home mother. Sure, I spent some time romping through fields with Pip and Nora.
And I’ll admit to at least one visit to The Juice Bar.
Only the best, most amazingly delicious place on the island.
And I am writing this blog post right now, but that’s not really how I spent all my free time.
In between loving on Nora and all that staying home with her entails, I was working for Bard.
Yes, you read that right. I may not be a full-time employee any more, but I am doing consulting work. And in the last two weeks, the time spent has ramped up immensely. Currently, I am building the Master of Arts in Teaching Program a recruitment database which takes more than an hour here and there. Last week alone, I’ve worked nearly 20 hours during naps and playtime, and late into the night. I’m not complaining – don’t get me wrong – I actually love it, but the housework has suffered.
All the time spent working and suddenly trying to juggle, juggle, juggle again has really reminded me why I’m staying home with Nora. I love the work that I’m doing for Bard; it’s interesting and challenging and I get to talk to grown-ups about mentally stimulating things. But, clearly, the more time spent on work, the less spent on other things which keep our house functioning.
It’s not a disaster, so I’m not really worried about it. It’ll be nice to have the extra money from the work and it’s really nice to be doing something I love in a whole different way, but it’s a good reminder of how important it is for me to be here, at home. Part-time, from home is work I can handle occasionally. But I definitely do not want to go back to the mess that was full-time and traveling while we have little ones at home – it’s just too big of a sacrifice.
I don’t want to miss another minute of this.
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